Hundreds of pro-abortion rights rallies are planned around the country on Saturday, following the shocking leak of a draught Supreme Court opinion that suggested the court’s conservative majority would soon overturn Roe v. Wade.
The Women’s March and Planned Parenthood are among the organisations organising more than 450 protests across the country, with hundreds of thousands expected to attend.
According to a permit provided by the National Park Service to Women’s March, the highest turnout is likely to be in Washington, D.C., with 17,000 people expected to gather on the grounds of the Washington Monument.
“Losing one’s right to abortion has ramifications. The price will be paid by women “Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of the Women’s March, said in a statement. “Now is the moment to put an end to this tragedy.”
The “Bans Off Our Bodies” event is set to begin at noon, with speakers beginning at 12:30 p.m., and a march to the United States Supreme Court beginning at 2:00 p.m. According to the permission, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren will be one of the rally’s speakers. Toshi Reagon, a musician, will also play, according to the organisers.
Students for Life is organising a counter-protest that will begin at noon Saturday at the Washington Monument and will march to the Supreme Court.
The “Bans Off Our Bodies” demonstrations are also expected to draw significant crowds in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Austin.
According to organisers, speakers for the Women’s March Foundation gathering at Los Angeles City Hall will include Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, and attorney and women’s rights champion Gloria Allred.
Following the leak of the draught SCOTUS ruling on the Mississippi case that challenges Roe, the landmark decision that has secured a woman’s right to abortion for nearly 50 years, the demonstrations join recent protests by abortion rights advocates — and some anti-abortion protestors.
Last week, an eight-foot-high fence was built at the Supreme Court amid the protests.
By the end of June, the Supreme Court is scheduled to issue a public ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, the majority of Americans feel Roe should be upheld. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights organisation, if Roe is overturned, at least 26 states would either outlaw abortion or severely restrict access to it.
Republicans in the Senate blocked a bill this week that would have codified abortion rights in federal law. The bill lost 49-51 in the Senate, falling short of the 60 votes needed to break a GOP filibuster.
President Joe Biden chastised Senate Republicans for failing to act “at a time when women’s constitutional rights are under unprecedented assault — and it goes against the wishes of the majority of Americans.”
House Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, convened on Friday to call on the justices to support abortion access ahead of the planned protests.
Pelosi stated, “Americans are marching and making their opinions heard.” “The public’s opinion is crucial. We will never give up on patients and their medical care.”